Thursday, November 6, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 17
Women face unknown
against BYU, Utah
By Jeff Apel
Staff Reporter
Several members of the Brigham
Young women's swimming team won't
be competing when the Cougars
face Nebraska on Saturday.
Brigham Young women's swim
ming coach Stan Crump said the
Cougars have been plagued by injur
ies and suspensions of six of their
swimmers.
With so many athletes definitely
out for the dual meet against the
Cornhuskers, Crump said he doesn't
know what to expect from the meet
in Provo, Utah.
"My big concern right now is we
don't have a lot of depth," Crump
said. "The kids we do have have
been training so hard they are
tired."
Crump said it isn't unusual for
the members of the men's swim
ming program at Brigham Young to
take one to two years out of their
If we swim to our
capability, wo can
win the meet and
not make it real
close.'
Huppert
m , 3
athletic careers so they can com
plete a missionary service.
But Crump said it's very rare that
women athletes at BYU interrupt
their athletic careers in pursuit of a
Mormon mission.
"It definitely doesn't work as an
advantage," he said. "The chances
are that a person who leaves the
program for one to two years won't
do as good when they come back
because they are away from the
training and they are older when
they return."
Crump said the freestyle and the
stroke events are the real stengths
of th Cougars, although he said
Brigham Young is at a decisive dis
advantage in some of the longer
stroke events because of lack of
depth.
Individually, Crump said he's anxious
ly waiting to see the rematch between
Brigham Young's Sandy Smith and
Nebraska's Dana Powers.
Three years ago when the Huskers
opened their season against Brigham
Young, Crump said Smith upset
Powers in the 50-meter freestyle.
"That's one of the few times Dana
has been beaten in that event," he
said.
Nebraska women's swimming
coach Ray Huppert said regardless
of the depth problems the Cougars
appear to be having, he is entering
the meet with Brigham Young with a
lot of concern.
Besides having to overcome the
effects of competing at a 5,000-foot
altitude, Huppert said, Nebraska
also must overcome possible prob
lems with jet lag. The Huskers will
prepare for their meet against
Brigham Young by facing Utah Fri
day night.
"Anytime you travel and compete
on the same day there is reason for
concern," Huppert said. "I don't
know how well our athletes will
adjust."
Huppert said in hopes that Ne
braska will be able to overcome any
problems the plane trip may pose,
he is going to have several pre-meet
workouts.
Each member of the Nebraska
women's swimming team will be
required to stretch and warm up for
a longer period of time, and anyone
who sleeps on the plane will be
instructed to wake up and walk.
Huppert said in the Huskers'
meet against the Utes he is going to
have all the members of the women's
squad swim either their first and
third or first and fourth events.
But against Brigham Young, Hup
pert said Nebraska will be swim
ming all of its athletes in their top
events.
"If we swim to our capability, we
can win the meet and not make it
real close," Huppert said.
Huppert said the main concern
he has about the Huskers' dual
against Utah is the element of mys
tery which surrounds the meet.
Because the Utes have competed
only in one meet so far this season,
Huppert said he hasn't had much of
a chance to analyze their squad.
He said the ony things he knows
about the Utes are that they possess
an "excellent" freestyler in Karin
Palle and that they opened their
season by finishing fifth in the six
team Colorado State Early Bird Invi
tational. "We're a more talented team,"
Huppert said.
Knox to start Saturday
TT Yl Tl
If someone had told Nebraska Coach Tom
Osborne in August that his top three I-backs
would be sidelined for the season with injuries
before the Oklahoma game was played, he prob
ably would have laughed. . .right after he shud
dered with horror at the thought.
But now that Nebraska's worst offensive fears
have become reality, a closer look at the situa-
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Doug CarrollDaily Nebraskan
Nebraska fullback Micah Heibel (41) breaks through the line for yardage against Missouri as
Tiger defensive back Stan Long moves in to make the tackle.
Heibel iiappy wMi opporfcrnMHy
By Jim Ballard
Senior Reporter
When Micah Heibel entered this
season, he knew he could be anything
from a second- to a fourth-team player.
Little did he know, however, that three
games into the season he would step in
and start at fullback for the injured
Ken Kaelin.
"I decided to just go out and play my
best," Heibel said. "About playing a
key role, I thought it was possible, but
not probable."
Even though the redshirt junior grew
up in Lincoln and was a Parade Maga
zine All-American at Lincoln Pius X,
Heibel said growing up with Nebraska
football was different than playing it.
"When I stop and reflect, I remember
the people I watched play and now that
I'm there, it's two totally different
things," he said. "It's not necessarily
that I didn't always want to play at
Nebraska, it just didn't seem it was
possible at times."
Heibel has seen playing time in all
eight of Nebraska's games this year and
started in the South Carolina and
Oklahoma State games. For the season,
Heibel has carried the ball 17 times
more than Kaelin and has 252 total
yards, an average of over five yards per
71
w(B(Ql
carry. -
Now that Keith Jones is sidelined
until Nebraska's bowl game, the Corn
huskers have lost their top three I
backs from the start of the season. Hei
bel said the fullbacks now could get
the call more often.
"I think the main weapon of the
I-formation is the I-back," Heibel said.
"But with all the injuries, the fullback
could get it more to reduce the pound
ing the I-back takes.
"But Coach Osborne takes what's
given to him. A good example is the
Oklahoma State game. The fullback
carried a considerable number of times.
It just depends on how the defense
comes out."
Thought the Colorado loss was a big
setback, Heibel said, everybody took it
well.
"Everyone looked at it with a healthy
attitude," Heibel said. "We looked at
the mistakes and we learned from
them. You can't do it over, and life goes
on, sd it doesn't do any good to whine
about it."
. Despite the loss Heibel still feels the
Huskers have a good shot at going to
the Orange Bowl and winning it.
"Of course we wanted to win the rest
of our games, and it's possible," he
said. "At the beginning of the year we
O
had a goal not to lose, and we lost one,
so we set a new goal not to lose
anymore."
When Heibel first came to Nebraska
he was projected to play at linebacker.
That experiment didn't last too long,
and Heibel is glad it didn't.
"I'm happy at fullback, happier than
I would have been at linebacker," he
said. "I like to know what you're sup
posed to do. That's the way it is on
offense."
Several tickets
still unclaimed
Students who have purchased
their season tickets for the 1986
87 basketball season may pick
up their tickets at the Nebraska
ticket office at the South Stadium
today through Friday.
The tickets may be picked up
from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to
4 p.m.
The ticket distribution began
on Monday and according to
Nebraska Associate Ticket Man
ager Joe Selig, many season
passes have not been picked up
yet.
)
i. . 3
Chuck
Green
f v.. )
tion might support the old adage that things
aren't always as bad as they seem.
The troubles began for Nebraska's I-back
corps before the season began, when Doug
DuBose re-injured his knee during a scrimmage
in early September. DuBose had hurt his knee
last season and had arthroscopic surgery per
formed last February. The injury knocked DuBose
out for the season and placed a cloud of specula
tion over Nebraska's offense. How well would
Keith Jones replace DuBose? Who would back up
Jones?
A few weeks later, reserve I-back Jon Kelley
injured his ankle and diminished the Corn
huskers' supply of runners even more. Since his
initial injury, Kelley has suffered from back
spasms and has been unable to regain the form
he displayed last spring.
On Monday it was announced that Jones
would require surgery for a torn ligament in his
right thumb. According to Osborne, the surgery
was successful and Jones may return to the team
for the Huskers' bowl game.
But not before.
"That's a position where you can lose players
in a hurry," Osborne said Monday after practice,
just hours before Jones' surgery was scheduled
to begin. "The thing that's really been unusual
about it (Nebraska's situation) is that they're all
kind of freakish (injuries)."
Freakish or not, the fact remains that Nebras
ka's once overloaded I-back roster has shrunk to
three: sophomores Tyreese Knox and Jeff Wheeler
and freshman Terry Rodgers. With those three
I-backs, Osborne isn't quite ready to throw in the
towel. He shouldn't be.
In fact, it might be time for Iowa State and
Kansas, Nebraska's two remaining opponents
before the Oklahoma shootout, to get out their
cryin towels. The Huskers' ground attack just
became more dangerous.
Knox, the heir to the No. 1 I-back spot, has
proven himself to be a better inside runner than
Jones. Jones is by no means a slouch in compari
son to Nebraska I-backs of the past. His 4.33
speed the fastest in school history makes
wi By ny me
o
him a devastating player when he turns the
corner and gets into the open field. But his
inside power was lacking from the start, not
because of his size but because of his running
style.
Even in high school Jones' claim to fame was
his outside speed. Nobody could catch him for
three years at Omaha Central because he was too
fast. Not much changed when he came to
Nebraska; there was no need. After all, why fix a
watch that already works?
But when an opposing defense stops the out
side game, what's Jones to do?
Knox, a 5-11, 215-pound back from Daly City,
Calif., runs a 4.4-second 40 yard dash, just a
fraction of a second behind Jones, which makes
Knox as much of an outside threat as Jones. His
larger frame and more powerful leg drive also
gives Knox a better chance when running a trap
play through the line. This type of running will
undoubtably come in handy on Nov. 22 against
Brian Bosworth and Company.
Wheeler, who has vaulted to the No. 2 I-back
spot, is much smaller but is a tough inside
runner. At 5-10, 175 pounds, Wheeler is actually
smaller than Jones. He is slower, too. Most peo
ple are. But Wheeler is a power runner whose leg
drive doesn't stop until he's underneath a pile of
tacklers.
Which brings us to Rodgers. At 5-8, 175
pounds, Rodgers won't run over linebackers very
often, but he could pose a serious dilemma for
opposing defenders. After Knox and Wheeler
have run over and through tacklers up the mid
dle, Rodgers may have the outside all to himself.
With the defense poised to stop the inside game,
Rodgers' 4.5 speed and inherited reflexes could
prove deadly. Like Jones, Rodgers breaking into
the open field is a cue for Nebraska fans to let go
of their red balloons.
If ever there was a silver lining in a cloud, this
would have to be it.
In my last column (Daily Nebraskan, Oct.) I
said that I thought Nebraska middle guard
Danny Noonan was the best collegiate lineman
in America But then Noonan's name was left off
of my mid-season All-America team. I had origi
nally included Noonan on my team, but for some
reason which is still unknown to me, he and
Temple running back Paul Palmer were left off
when the column appeared in the DN the next
morning. I appreciated the calls and letters I
received on the matter even though some of
them were a little rude and I apologize for the
mistake. I wouldn't want to get Noonan mad at
me would I?
Sorry, Dan.
Green is a junior news-editorial and criminal
justice major and Daily Nebraskan sports editor.